Traveller?

[AbdulAlhazred]

I've got a copy. I don't think it's a good book, and I don't use it. In my game I use most of Book 4 (but not the extended PC gen), some of Book 5 (but I prefer Book 2's starship building rules, and have used Book 5 only to make up the specs for a large orbital station), some of Book 6, and some of Book 7. Also most of Supplement 4.

Sounds a lot like what I have generally used. We definitely used the various extended PC gen rules where they were available (I think they covered pretty much everything eventually).

 

[pemerton]

We definitely used the various extended PC gen rules

I like adding the "special duty" line to the character gen chart, as it gives some extra skill levels, which I think are good for starting PCs.

And I use the Supplement 4 careers.

But I don't like the Mercenary-style extended lifepaths. They take a bit too long - whereas part of the charm of Traveller PC gen is that you can get through your character's lifepath in five or ten minutes!

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I like adding the "special duty" line to the character gen chart, as it gives some extra skill levels, which I think are good for starting PCs.

And I use the Supplement 4 careers.

But I don't like the Mercenary-style extended lifepaths. They take a bit too long - whereas part of the charm of Traveller PC gen is that you can get through your character's lifepath in five or ten minutes!

IIRC we generally allowed the players to use whichever published character gen technique they felt like, so you could go with the 4-year granularity 'quick' methods, or the year-by-year higher resolution ones from the various supplements. Generally the basic CG is less risky, and faster, but often nets you less skill levels per tour.

 

[Thomas Shey]

If you're willing to count Cepheus Deluxe.

 

[RealAlHazred]

I played it straight. The Vilani are consistently portrayed as extremely phobic about change, preferring to stagnate rather than advance. Even after being conquered by the Solomani, their culture didn't change. And they are extremely averse to automating anything.

So IMTU, there is a constant struggle between the workforce attempting to automate processes and management resisting any and all changes. Since management oversees budgeting, there is not as much money for AI/automation/robotics R&D as we would otherwise assume. If my players ever made it to Solomani space, they'd have seen something different. They saw something different in Zhodani space, but there there was the emphasis on not obsoleting jobs until the workforce was ready to move on; it's easier to avoid cultural shake-ups if you can just read everybody's mind like a newspaper. Zhodani made much, much more use of robots in warfare, since they wanted to avoid human casualties if at all possible.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Well, I would say that is YOUR interpretation of what future AI etc. might look like. It is very unclear that this is how it will actually be. So, for example, I could imagine such tech concentrating on assistance. That might be a pretty reasonable and gamable thing. You would acquire augments, which could basically be modeled similarly to the ship's computer in CT. As long as the game milieu has a fairly strong opinion on it, there isn't going to be a bunch of arguing. I mean, other SF games have done it.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this. I've never seen an SF RPG that attempts to be realistic really work in play. I've heard plenty of GMs talk about their endless SF worldbuilding and how much more true-to-life this or that element is and how they've worked out the details and ramifications and everything else that other SF games handwave. But somehow those ironclad, fully buttoned-up settings don't get a lot of play. If I was a player and I had to sit through GM setting exposition after exposition I'd run screaming.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Look, if I want a hyper-realistic sci-fi RPG that's grounded in real science and intelligent extrapolation about the effects of technological advancement on society and human consciousness, I'll play Star Frontiers: New Genesis.

 

[rgard]

CT is flat out fun. I remember our PCs selling F-16s to farmers on an airless planet.

If you are a fan of 3.5 D&D then get a copy of T20. You still get prior service, but with D20 rules to include levels.

If you want a generic game without the Traveller universe, there's Quiklink Interactive's SciFi20 with about the same rules as T20 (same designer as T20) but with the Traveller serial numbers ground off.

I have a copy of GURPS Traveller, but have never played it. You have that option if you like GURPS.

 

[practicalm]

GURPS Traveller

 

[John Desmarais]

I have several edition, but currently only play Mongoose 2nd edition.